Seems like a pastime for TROTW; carefully craft a set of criteria tailored to accentuate some Asian or European nation's characteristics and then measure the US against it. A Geneva-based foundation attended primarily by European intellectuals, European media, the Leaders and representatives of European nations and assorted activists organizations conclude the US is now technologically inferior to selected EU nations. Yawn.
Yeah, and if you look at the history of this index, you'll see that the US has been on top 3 times during the 6 years this report has been published. Damned Europeans can't even manipulate themselves to the top consistently. And to make matters worse, the so called World Economic Forum, which is behind the report, is being outright sneaky, by only allowing membership for the 1000 biggest companies in the world. How on earth are any American companies supposed to be able to qualify under that criteria?
/sarcasm off
Whatever happened to the notion that technological prowess was somehow a poor measure of true progress? I thought we had determined that social justice, economic fairness, non-Christian ratio, dietary fat, etc. were far better measures. I guess now that others are approaching or, indeed, surpassing the US technologically we'll be shedding that rubric.
Oh, and ScuttleMonkey, this tripe belongs under Politics, mkay? Thanks.
First you're complaining that this index is only measuring techological prowess, and not true progress. Then you're saying that means this story belongs under Politics? I would have thought that would mean it should stay under Technology... And I doubt the main goal for non-Americans who create indexes of this kind, is to make sure the US doesn't end up on top.
That's just a myth, according to a writer at Sports Illustrated. It's potentially viewable for 1 billion people, but actual viewership is probably more around 2 million outside of North America.
You make it sound like Sony was the only company backing their technology in the past, and that was the reason they failed.
As well as Sony and Sanyo, Betamax video recorders were also sold by Toshiba, Pioneer, Aiwa and NEC. The Zenith Electronics Corporation and WEGA Corporations contracted with Sony to produce VCRs for their product lines. Department Stores like Sears in the US and Quelle in Germany sold Beta format VCRs under their house brands as did the Radio Shack chain of electronic stores. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betamax
The HD DVD Promotion Group also has a rather long list of members, among them:
If Universal Pictures is the only media house supporting HD-DVD, it does seem a bit strange that Warner Home Video Inc. and Paramount Home Entertainment are also members of a group promoting HD-DVD...
Hmmm, interesting. Hadn't seen anything so specific connecting Karpov to drugs. This is something that would be administered between matches, not during?
I still don't think drug testing in chess is worth the hassle, though. With all the different banned drugs that include many substances found in common medicines, I'm sure something like the ongoing Chess Olympiade is a nightmare to properly regulate and test according to Olympic standards. After all, the vast majority of participants there are amateurs, who don't have the time or resources to check whether all medicine taken prior to and during the event are safe.
How would they do this during an important game? Wouldn't this be pretty difficult to do during say a World Championship match? Korchnoi's team made a huge fuss about the yoghurt Karpov received during a game, and that it might be a potential message from his seconds. I have a hard time seeing Karpov being allowed alone with anyone who would give him the drugs.
And didn't Karpov also have a tendency to become exhausted as long matches progressed? I think the Russians didn't do a very good job with those drugs.;-)
Chess and bridge have wanted to get into the Olympics, but I think the idea has been abandoned by most players of those two games. Among the silly effects it did have while going on, was drug testing in chess. Yep, testing for all kind of steroids and enhancers, although caffeine is probably one of the few things that actually would have given any sort of advantage in chess. Speaking of which, will pro-gamers be able to live without caffeine it becomes an olympic sport?:-P
Another problem is that there are too many different sports in the (Summer) Olympics as it is. IOC certainly won't let any new sports in without kicking out old ones. And I'm not sure videogames would seem more *worthy* than the sports that are alredy in.
I think it's likely that Bethesda will hire Patrick Stewart for voice work on some of the games. After all, he's just worked for them on the upcoming game Oblivion (http://www.elderscrolls.com/news/press_093005.htm).
Blizzard have stated that they will keep everything on a closed account for at least 6 months. And after those 6 months they won't actually delete anything without a good reason, like storage or performance issues because of inactive accounts.
$1.49 might be too much for the top end, but a price substantially lower than 99 cents could indeed be a step in the right direction. Since plenty of the merchandise sold online is already in 'the long tail', an increase of sales in that segment, might show more clearly to the record companies two things: 1) Hits don't necessarily have the same pulling power in online stores as in the local store with a limited selection of 300 albums 2) Maybe selling three copies of a song at 75 cents is better than one at $1.49?
Did you hear that Shakeswhatever fellow is remaking the "Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet"? And that was already a remake of "Mariotto and Gianozza", fer chrissake.
I wish these London playhouses would spend enough resources to bring in some truly creative people and get some new ideas rather than just rehashing the same old stories over and over and over again. I mean, really, how many more beatings can this dead horse really take?
Isn't the difference that theater is meant to be experienced as a live performance? If you want to watch Romeo and Juliet in a theater, then someone has to "remake"it. As opposed to a movie or tv-series, that is usually released on DVD if popular enough. And in the case of movies, sometimes also shown on the big screen in film clubs etc. Sure, you could tape the original theater performance and watch that, but would that be the same without the interaction with the audience etc.
While I'm opposed to the death penalty in general, I can still see why many support it as a potential punishment in case of treason or murder. But is it warranted for hacking? Of course there's the case of someone being able to hack into a system and take control of automated trains or the like, and thereby killing people. But in that case I would imagine current laws being more than sufficient to prosecute.
But hacking by itself? I can't see any case where material/economic damage done should lead to the death penalty. If that was the case, then surely we should also use the death penalty in other cases with huge financial damage? For CEOs convicted for large-scale embezzlement or fraudulent accounting? Gee, I wonder if that would a popular proposal in Washinton D.C.?
Wouldn't dual cores be useful for those who frequently have to compile large programs or perform simulations/calculations on their machines? (Yes, I'm assuming there is no mainframe to do that last point on.) In that way it would be possible to do other stuff at the same time, without the system feeling sluggish.
I agree that Lightscribe is probably redundant for people who already have the DVD/CD-writer they need, and also have a printer that can print on CDs.
However, I for one am interested in getting one of these drives. Why? First of all, I was already thinking of buying a DVD-burner for my desktop computer (which is now my secondary computer). Secondly, from time to time I would like to make some nice looking labels on my CDs/DVDs. The problem is that I don't have a functional printer at the moment. (I found out a while ago that what little I needed to print was better done with my printing quota at university, rather than maintaining and worrying about ink cartridges that I almost never used.)
With these two things in mind, Lightscribe seems like a good solution to my needs. And I don't care about the fact that it's only monochrome. Though others may disagree, I think it looks quite professional with monochrome on a metallic surface.
But let me tell you, point blank, the lines of stem cells that he's made available, every scientist in the country will tell you, "Not adequate," because they're contaminated by mouse cells, and because there aren't 60 or 70 -- they're are only about 11 to 20 now -- and there aren't enough to be able to do the research because they're contaminated.
We feel that they spend a lot of their funding and attention on duplicating products and services that already exist in the private sector, Barry Lee Myers, executive vice president of AccuWeather, says of the weather service. And they are not spending the kind of time and effort that is needed on catastrophic issues that involve lives and property, which I think is really their true function.
He added that the weather service might have done a better, faster job of warning about the southern Asian tsunami if it had not been distracted in this way.
Is it just me, or does this sound like scare tactics? Would the National Weather Service hire fewer meteorologists or invest less in necessary equipment, instead spending the money on these public services? Or could public appreciation of the services actually mean better funding for the NWS, recouping the costs?
If anyone knows, has there been real criticism concerning the tsunami and the weather service? And secondly, what's the cost of these public services compared to the total budget?
I think this is just FUD, but if anyone has facts that say otherwise, I'll listen.
Really? Lets start with welfare, it's there because people deserve a second chance (a moral decision) and people need a helping hand (again a moral decision). Now even if I agree with those sentements, it is easily my choice to decide not to help people out with my money. After all, it's my money, and I'm an adult, I can decide what I want to do with it. Yet, the government takes my money and gives it to poor people. They force me to be charitable, thus forcing a particular beleif system on me.
It can be said that welfare is a moral issue. However, the moral issue doesn't have to be welfare itself, but the claim that everyone has a right to life and liberty, a statement I think a much larger percentage of the population will agree with than the welfare statement. If you accept that, the challenge that appears is: How do you make sure everyone has life? That usually entails roof over the head and enough food to survive. The government usually ends up being responsible for ensuring those rights are fulfilled, by redistributing money from the population at large to those who need it. Because voluntary charity is often incapable of doing this job. Sure, it could work in a *normal* big city, where the charity of the rich and middle classes could help the poor and homeless. But what happens when cities or towns built around specific industries suddenly lose those big factories? As much as half the working class can lose their jobs in those cases. Do you think voluntary charity is close to being able to keep up with these cases? If not, then I don't see any other answer than the government.
In addition, improvements in social welfare are in some cases returning their investments by lowering costs of the judicial system.
How about the drinking age. A consenting adult who can watch porn and kill, but can't drink.
Drinking age compared to other *adult rights* is always something that could be debated. I don't have a definite answer to that. But the fact that there are age restrictions and other restrictions at all on alcohol is, due to the fact that some people do stupid things that are harmful to others when they are drunk. Sure, that could be helped, e.g. with more police, but that costs money.
BTW, there isn't an age that makes it okay to kill. I assume you are thinking of something else, but I'm not sure whether it is age of gun ownership or the age where you can be tried as an adult for killing someone.
Gun laws in general. A concenting adult can look at porn but can't own a gun to protect his family? Sounds like a moral decision to me.
Isn't the difference the possible uses for those two? The only thing you can do with porn is watch it. A gun certainly has a use for protection, but can also be used to attack others. The attitude with regards to guns often depends on how much you value the protection-value compared with the possibility of gun-abuse. If guns were physically unable to be used for anything but protection, I don't think gun-control would have much support.
Well, the complaint against SUVs has been that they are often owned by people in cities/suburbs that don't really need a SUV, but could have covered their needs with a smaller car that uses less fuel, and hence many SUVs pollute the environment unnecessarily. Even though I'm sure SUVs by themselves are great for those who actually have a real use for one.
The A380 on the other hand, has a lower fuel cost per passenger than existing airplanes, and would therefore lessen pollution. Quite the opposite of what the growth in SUV sales has done
I'm not sure there is a general European attitude against big vehicles though. I like big vehicles BTW.:)
As for WW2, Europeans appreciate the fact that the US helped tip the scales, but its not like large parts of Europe chose to start a random war with Germany, then sat back and waited for the Americans to undo the mistake. Hitler attacked and millions of Europeans lost their lives defending their homes and coutries from Nazi-Germany. See http://www.secondworldwar.co.uk/casualty.html for numbers.
And lastly, you can't keep using WW2 as a counterargument every time Europeans criticize America. Unless you think the French should have the same protection from American critique, since France helped the American colonies during their war for independence. Oh, and the Soviet Union lost 25 million people and were eventually able to strike back at Germany's eastern front during WW2. I'm sure that had a role in defeating Nazi-Germany as well. Maybe all criticism of the USSR should have been refrained from, as it was spitting on the graves of those that saved our asses?
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah, and if you look at the history of this index, you'll see that the US has been on top 3 times during the 6 years this report has been published. Damned Europeans can't even manipulate themselves to the top consistently. And to make matters worse, the so called World Economic Forum, which is behind the report, is being outright sneaky, by only allowing membership for the 1000 biggest companies in the world. How on earth are any American companies supposed to be able to qualify under that criteria?
First you're complaining that this index is only measuring techological prowess, and not true progress. Then you're saying that means this story belongs under Politics? I would have thought that would mean it should stay under Technology... And I doubt the main goal for non-Americans who create indexes of this kind, is to make sure the US doesn't end up on top.
IMDb lists Natalie Portman as a rumored cast member. So in case the movie doesn't live up to its potential, just add some hot grits and we'll all go watch it anyway. :-P
Or maybe the PS3 is too difficult to develop games for, if no one can ever use all of its power? Has he considered that angle?
That's just a myth, according to a writer at Sports Illustrated. It's potentially viewable for 1 billion people, but actual viewership is probably more around 2 million outside of North America.
You make it sound like Sony was the only company backing their technology in the past, and that was the reason they failed.
As well as Sony and Sanyo, Betamax video recorders were also sold by Toshiba, Pioneer, Aiwa and NEC. The Zenith Electronics Corporation and WEGA Corporations contracted with Sony to produce VCRs for their product lines. Department Stores like Sears in the US and Quelle in Germany sold Beta format VCRs under their house brands as did the Radio Shack chain of electronic stores.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betamax
The HD DVD Promotion Group also has a rather long list of members, among them:
-
Broadcom Corporation
-
CANON INC.
-
FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.
-
Fujitsu Limited.
-
Hewlett-Packard Company
-
Hitachi Maxell, Ltd.
-
Imation Corp
-
Intel Corporation
-
Kenwood Corporation
-
Konica Minolta Opto, Inc.
-
Lenovo Japan
-
Microsoft Corporation
-
Mitsubishi Kagaku Media Co., Ltd. / Verbatim
-
NEC Electronics Corporation
-
Paramount Home Entertainment
-
RICOH COMPANY LTD.
-
SANYO Electric Co., Ltd.
-
TEAC CORPORATION
-
TOSHIBA CORPORATION
-
Ulead Systems, Inc.
-
Universal Pictures
-
Warner Home Video Inc.
http://www.hddvdprg.com/about/member.htmlIf Universal Pictures is the only media house supporting HD-DVD, it does seem a bit strange that Warner Home Video Inc. and Paramount Home Entertainment are also members of a group promoting HD-DVD...
Just imagine the battery life of your cellphone after a slashdotting! :-p
Don't be a sheep and copy everyone else. Be an individualist and buy a completely unique looking MP3-player that resembles nothing else :-P
Gamespy recently had an interview with another composer, Jeremy Soule.
I meant between GAMES, not matches. Sorry about that.
Hmmm, interesting. Hadn't seen anything so specific connecting Karpov to drugs. This is something that would be administered between matches, not during?
I still don't think drug testing in chess is worth the hassle, though. With all the different banned drugs that include many substances found in common medicines, I'm sure something like the ongoing Chess Olympiade is a nightmare to properly regulate and test according to Olympic standards. After all, the vast majority of participants there are amateurs, who don't have the time or resources to check whether all medicine taken prior to and during the event are safe.
Anyway, thanks for the quote. Appreciate it. :-)
How would they do this during an important game? Wouldn't this be pretty difficult to do during say a World Championship match? Korchnoi's team made a huge fuss about the yoghurt Karpov received during a game, and that it might be a potential message from his seconds. I have a hard time seeing Karpov being allowed alone with anyone who would give him the drugs.
And didn't Karpov also have a tendency to become exhausted as long matches progressed? I think the Russians didn't do a very good job with those drugs. ;-)
Chess and bridge have wanted to get into the Olympics, but I think the idea has been abandoned by most players of those two games. Among the silly effects it did have while going on, was drug testing in chess. Yep, testing for all kind of steroids and enhancers, although caffeine is probably one of the few things that actually would have given any sort of advantage in chess. Speaking of which, will pro-gamers be able to live without caffeine it becomes an olympic sport? :-P
Another problem is that there are too many different sports in the (Summer) Olympics as it is. IOC certainly won't let any new sports in without kicking out old ones. And I'm not sure videogames would seem more *worthy* than the sports that are alredy in.
Dutch television has free streaming at http://www.nos.nl/gfx/winterspelen2006/live/index. html. Not hard to figure out the schedule below either, even if you don't speak dutch.
I think it's likely that Bethesda will hire Patrick Stewart for voice work on some of the games. After all, he's just worked for them on the upcoming game Oblivion (http://www.elderscrolls.com/news/press_093005.htm ).
Blizzard have stated that they will keep everything on a closed account for at least 6 months. And after those 6 months they won't actually delete anything without a good reason, like storage or performance issues because of inactive accounts.
$1.49 might be too much for the top end, but a price substantially lower than 99 cents could indeed be a step in the right direction. Since plenty of the merchandise sold online is already in 'the long tail', an increase of sales in that segment, might show more clearly to the record companies two things: 1) Hits don't necessarily have the same pulling power in online stores as in the local store with a limited selection of 300 albums 2) Maybe selling three copies of a song at 75 cents is better than one at $1.49?
Isn't the difference that theater is meant to be experienced as a live performance? If you want to watch Romeo and Juliet in a theater, then someone has to "remake"it. As opposed to a movie or tv-series, that is usually released on DVD if popular enough. And in the case of movies, sometimes also shown on the big screen in film clubs etc. Sure, you could tape the original theater performance and watch that, but would that be the same without the interaction with the audience etc.
While I'm opposed to the death penalty in general, I can still see why many support it as a potential punishment in case of treason or murder. But is it warranted for hacking? Of course there's the case of someone being able to hack into a system and take control of automated trains or the like, and thereby killing people. But in that case I would imagine current laws being more than sufficient to prosecute.
But hacking by itself? I can't see any case where material/economic damage done should lead to the death penalty. If that was the case, then surely we should also use the death penalty in other cases with huge financial damage? For CEOs convicted for large-scale embezzlement or fraudulent accounting? Gee, I wonder if that would a popular proposal in Washinton D.C.?
Wouldn't dual cores be useful for those who frequently have to compile large programs or perform simulations/calculations on their machines? (Yes, I'm assuming there is no mainframe to do that last point on.) In that way it would be possible to do other stuff at the same time, without the system feeling sluggish.
I agree that Lightscribe is probably redundant for people who already have the DVD/CD-writer they need, and also have a printer that can print on CDs.
However, I for one am interested in getting one of these drives. Why? First of all, I was already thinking of buying a DVD-burner for my desktop computer (which is now my secondary computer). Secondly, from time to time I would like to make some nice looking labels on my CDs/DVDs. The problem is that I don't have a functional printer at the moment. (I found out a while ago that what little I needed to print was better done with my printing quota at university, rather than maintaining and worrying about ink cartridges that I almost never used.)
With these two things in mind, Lightscribe seems like a good solution to my needs. And I don't care about the fact that it's only monochrome. Though others may disagree, I think it looks quite professional with monochrome on a metallic surface.
Is it just me, or does this sound like scare tactics? Would the National Weather Service hire fewer meteorologists or invest less in necessary equipment, instead spending the money on these public services? Or could public appreciation of the services actually mean better funding for the NWS, recouping the costs?
If anyone knows, has there been real criticism concerning the tsunami and the weather service? And secondly, what's the cost of these public services compared to the total budget?
I think this is just FUD, but if anyone has facts that say otherwise, I'll listen.
Really? Lets start with welfare, it's there because people deserve a second chance (a moral decision) and people need a helping hand (again a moral decision). Now even if I agree with those sentements, it is easily my choice to decide not to help people out with my money. After all, it's my money, and I'm an adult, I can decide what I want to do with it. Yet, the government takes my money and gives it to poor people. They force me to be charitable, thus forcing a particular beleif system on me.
It can be said that welfare is a moral issue. However, the moral issue doesn't have to be welfare itself, but the claim that everyone has a right to life and liberty, a statement I think a much larger percentage of the population will agree with than the welfare statement. If you accept that, the challenge that appears is: How do you make sure everyone has life? That usually entails roof over the head and enough food to survive. The government usually ends up being responsible for ensuring those rights are fulfilled, by redistributing money from the population at large to those who need it. Because voluntary charity is often incapable of doing this job. Sure, it could work in a *normal* big city, where the charity of the rich and middle classes could help the poor and homeless. But what happens when cities or towns built around specific industries suddenly lose those big factories? As much as half the working class can lose their jobs in those cases. Do you think voluntary charity is close to being able to keep up with these cases? If not, then I don't see any other answer than the government.
In addition, improvements in social welfare are in some cases returning their investments by lowering costs of the judicial system.
How about the drinking age. A consenting adult who can watch porn and kill, but can't drink.
Drinking age compared to other *adult rights* is always something that could be debated. I don't have a definite answer to that. But the fact that there are age restrictions and other restrictions at all on alcohol is, due to the fact that some people do stupid things that are harmful to others when they are drunk. Sure, that could be helped, e.g. with more police, but that costs money.
BTW, there isn't an age that makes it okay to kill. I assume you are thinking of something else, but I'm not sure whether it is age of gun ownership or the age where you can be tried as an adult for killing someone.
Gun laws in general. A concenting adult can look at porn but can't own a gun to protect his family? Sounds like a moral decision to me.
Isn't the difference the possible uses for those two? The only thing you can do with porn is watch it. A gun certainly has a use for protection, but can also be used to attack others. The attitude with regards to guns often depends on how much you value the protection-value compared with the possibility of gun-abuse. If guns were physically unable to be used for anything but protection, I don't think gun-control would have much support.
Well, the complaint against SUVs has been that they are often owned by people in cities/suburbs that don't really need a SUV, but could have covered their needs with a smaller car that uses less fuel, and hence many SUVs pollute the environment unnecessarily. Even though I'm sure SUVs by themselves are great for those who actually have a real use for one.
The A380 on the other hand, has a lower fuel cost per passenger than existing airplanes, and would therefore lessen pollution. Quite the opposite of what the growth in SUV sales has done
I'm not sure there is a general European attitude against big vehicles though. I like big vehicles BTW. :)
As for WW2, Europeans appreciate the fact that the US helped tip the scales, but its not like large parts of Europe chose to start a random war with Germany, then sat back and waited for the Americans to undo the mistake. Hitler attacked and millions of Europeans lost their lives defending their homes and coutries from Nazi-Germany. See http://www.secondworldwar.co.uk/casualty.html for numbers.
And lastly, you can't keep using WW2 as a counterargument every time Europeans criticize America. Unless you think the French should have the same protection from American critique, since France helped the American colonies during their war for independence. Oh, and the Soviet Union lost 25 million people and were eventually able to strike back at Germany's eastern front during WW2. I'm sure that had a role in defeating Nazi-Germany as well. Maybe all criticism of the USSR should have been refrained from, as it was spitting on the graves of those that saved our asses?
Could you give some more info on what model you are talking about? I'm curious since I just bought a Creative MuVo Micro N200.
Luckily the consumer laws are quite good here in Norway, in case the player locks up. Still, it would be nice to know.